Ed Wahl
July 06, 1940 - March 13, 2019
- Share:
Ed Wahl
July 06, 1940 - March 13, 2019
Obituary
Edward J. Wahl, age 78, passed away at home in Bellingham, Washington, on March 13, 2019.
Ed was born July 6, 1940, in Bellingham. He was a member of a pioneer Whatcom County family, who began arriving in Bellingham in the late 1880s. His mother was Jean (Marsh) Kennedy, AKA Mary Jean Kennedy. Her family included Thomas J. McVey and Jane McEwan (County Antrim, N. Ireland), whose daughter Jane married Michael J. Marsh (County Mayo, Ireland) in O’Neill, Nebraska. Ed’s maternal grandmother was Ann Marsh, who married Edward Joseph Kennedy about 1905.
Ed’s father was Ralph Edward Wahl, who took over management of Wahl’s Department store in 1937, 3 years before Ed was born. Ralph’s kin include his grandfather Joseph B. Wahl’s Fulda country Jaekles, Wahls, and Bolzs, and his grandmother Anna (Marthaler) Weber’s Leimerscheim, Germany and Luxembourg relations.
Ed graduated from Bellingham High School, Western Washington University, and the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. He was first licensed as a funeral director in 1961. He received a Master of Public Health degree in Health Services Administration from UCLA and was elected to membership in the American College of Hospital Administrators.
From 1961 to 1964, Ed served in the U.S. Army, based out of Fort Rucker, Alabama, achieving the rank of Specialist 5. In 1965, he married Fran Leinders of Lynden, Washington, and in 1966 and 1967 they welcomed two children: son Erich and daughter Rebekka. Through the 1970s, Ed served as an administrator at two Seattle hospitals: Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini Hospital and West Seattle General Hospital.
For fifteen years, from 1980 to 1995, Ed served as president of the prestigious Bonney Watson Funeral Home & Cemeteries, King County, Washington. During this time, he was also Deputy Coroner for North Kitsap County and Bainbridge Island. In the late 1990s, he relocated back to Bellingham, where he served as funeral director and embalmer first for Westford Funeral Home, and finally for Moles Farewell Tributes. In 1995, he married Lisa Kelsey of Seattle, Washington, and in 1997 they welcomed their daughter Kristina.
Ed was a licensed funeral director and embalmer for over 50 years, receiving an appointment by the governor and serving for ten years on the Washington State Regulatory Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. He was a consummate professional, a wealth of information, and a kind and humorous man. He was also a beloved member of the Moles Farewell Tributes team.
Ed is survived by his children Erich Joseph Wahl, Rebekka Elisabeth Cowen, and Kristina Kelsey Wahl; his grandchildren Annika Rose Christensen and Karsten Edward Wahl; as well as his brother Terence Wahl and family.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, March 22, 2019, 12:00pm at Moles Farewell Tributes – Bayview Chapel, in Bellingham, with reception to follow.
Memorial Service
- Date & Time: March 22, 2019 (12:00 AM)
- Venue: Moles Farewell Tributes - Bellingham
- Location: 2465 Lakeway Drive Bellingham, WA 98229 - (Get Directions)
- Phone Number: (360) -73-3-0510
19 responses to Ed Wahl
Kristina Wahl says:
June 11, 2022
Dear Daddy, I miss you so much it physically hurts, I think about you all day every day. I am almost done with my prerequisites for nursing school, I have maintained a 4.0 GPA so that I can get into the honors program at the University of Texas Cizik School of nursing to study immunology, I promise I will save you a seat in the front row of my graduation. Oh, how I wish you could have seen firsthand everything I have achieved in life so far, but I know you have been and always will be with me for everything to follow. My children will know you, I am so blessed to have half of me be all of you. I hope you know that every time I dance, I dance for you, I love people from every walk of life because you taught me why by example, I’ve shown compassion to those who hurt me because of you, even when they did not deserve it, I often do so with a very loud firm tone but I somehow manage to bite my tongue and serve it with a smile, you have given me a sense of humor that I find quite helpful, valuing a unique and vast repertoire of references through the ages to draw upon that only a 78-year-old father of a 21-year-old girl could teach, showing me how to use them to make some witty jokes about the people who are actively being cruel to me and have them laughing at thems with me, only realizing that it was a calculated insult after I have left the room. Dang, you were good at that. You know I am sensitive and taught me to instead of growing thick skin, which just is not fitting to my character, apply sunscreen frequently so that I may show others my heart without giving them the power to burn it. I advocate for myself and those whose voice has been silenced because you taught me to use my voice passionately and loudly for good, when mine is being stepped on I only scream louder, not for me but for those who have and will be in my shoes, and often in my hospital bed. I am becoming a nurse to do just that. I love writing because words are powerful and permanent when on paper, After nursing school and some time as a PICU nurse I plan on getting my masters in Narrative Medicine, a novel program at Columbia University, you taught me that everyone’s story needs to be heard and valued in life and in death, and narrative medicine is just that. I will finish my education at the University of Washington to get my Doctorate in Nursing Practice in pediatric acute care and complete a fellowship in pediatric Immunology, so I may care for my patients both in clinic and inpatient at Texas Children’s Hospital with Dr. Forbes, whom I already know you trust to protect me. I know this is an ambitiously tall order and unexpected things happen but you know I have beaten every impossible statistic thrown my way and adjusted accordingly. Thank you for giving me a beautiful life, a beautiful family, my beautiful loving brother and sister, a beautiful purpose, and the tools to give myself, my children, and my patients a beautiful future. Because of you, I have more to sing than to fear. I love you with all of my heart and soul, forever and always, Kristina.
PS, every time I have anesthesia I have the OR staff play Your song, by Elton John, our song, so that I may think of you when I am asleep, I feel your loving warmth in my heart and it makes me feel safe, I know you are with me and Bekka and Erich always, we love that, and I promise I will continue to be me, your Binks.
Lance Malmberg says:
January 26, 2023
Kristina Wahl
I had a question for you can you give me a call thanks 425 233-9933
Maura Wahl says:
June 27, 2022
Ed — favorite uncle — thank you for all your kindness to me over the course of my childhood. And for the friendship we had once I was a legit adult. No one will ever be a cooler cat than you.
Lance Malmberg says:
January 26, 2023
ED,
It saddens my heart to hear of your passing. I wish I could have gone to your services. I enjoyed working with you and everything you taught me about embalming and being a great funeral director. Those skills you taught me are the best I have seen in the business. You were an amazing teacher and friend. I enjoyed our talks while we drove around Bellingham late at night and your great sense of humor and how your carried yourself. Your history lessons about Bellingham when you were a young etc…. I remember your perfect penmanship, your laugh and your M3. Take care friend I will see you again one day in the grand family reunion.